Priscilla Kemp Talks About Executives Having a Work-Life Balance

As a business leader, it's important to ensure success by taking time for yourself to go on vacation and enjoy yourself. Too many times it can be very easy to work too hard and not pay attention to the fact that executives and CEOs need to take vacations in order for a business to be successful. It is very easy to get burnt out.

TEC President, Priscilla Kemp, talks about what she likes to do for fun and to take time for herself.


Priscilla Kemp Talks about a Work/Life Balance as a Company Leader from TEC Midwest on Vimeo.

POLL: Which social media platform is most useful for your business?

It's important to choose the right social media platforms for your business. Your social media strategy should be focused on how to reach your goals successfully with select platforms. Which social media platforms do you find are most successful for your business?

POLL: When you make a mistake, how actively do you admit it and resolve it?

For today's poll, we wanted to touch on the topic of taking responsibility for your mistakes. With every business, there are going to be times when a mistake is need and a resolution needs to be found. Whether it's a mistake you personally made, or someone on your team, it must be recognized and resolved.



Mike Figliuolo, managing director of ThoughtLEADERS had some great insights on finding resolutions:
"There's an old leadership principle that states "seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions." The vast majority of you are adhering to this principle. Whether you go public with your error or not, you're almost all admitting it and seeking resolution. For those of you going public and admitting your mistake, you're also setting a good example for your teams. You're letting them know it's OK to occasionally make a mistake and that the important part is seeking to resolve the error. For those of you staying quiet about (or worse, hiding) your mistakes, I encourage you to step up to the challenge of admitting your errors and working toward resolution with others."

Meet the Members: Peter Kowalchuck, Owner of Sandmasters, Inc.

For Peter Kowalchuck, it's tough to pick just one component of TEC that he likes best. Being a member of TEC comes with many benefits and what he values the most is the one-on-ones with his TEC Chair, Emeran Leonard.

Learn more about TEC directly from Peter.


Meet the Members: Peter Kowalchuk from TEC Midwest on Vimeo.

Jon Teraoka: How TEC Helps Your Business Grow

For Jon Teraoka, member of TEC and owner of W.I.S. Logistics, TEC helps his business grow by giving and receiving expert opinions that lead into new business opportunities.

BizTimes: Management - Green is Good

By Harry Dennis, III for BizTimes. Read the full article in BizTimes HERE. 

Sustainability can contribute to bottom line. 
It’s no longer a maybe. “Greening” for small businesses is here.

My thanks this month to Vistage member Frank Priznar, CEO of PRIZIM, Inc., for his thoughtful insights on this topic.

Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about greening is that while it’s good for our environment, it’s costly to the bottom line. Priznar offers these contrarian suggestions.

Reduce waste

How much waste does your business generate? Think broadly. Raw material, in-processing waste and scrap are, perhaps, the most conventional sources when we think of waste.

But what about waste of IT resources such as extending the life of electronic equipment rather than replacing it? How about reinforcing carpooling with incentives? This was once a popular alternative in the ‘80s, but notice how naked most “park-and-rides” look today.

Video conferencing has finally arrived as a cost effective alternative to jumping on an airplane for a meeting in Singapore. So has the strategic use of social media to accomplish costly marketing alternatives through media advertising.

And what about the human waste associated with poor health habits by both employers and employees? Smoking remains a major “non-green” problem for about 30 percent of our adult employee population. Obesity isn’t far behind.

Where are you green already?

Surprisingly, most companies already have green initiatives in place, many of which are common sense and informal. Recycling, for instance. Leasing hybrid cars for another. Temperature-responsive climate control, especially in Wisconsin, is not new. And add to this list low-cost perimeter lighting and sound absorption.

Let’s not forget something as simple as volunteering to post a sign stating that you will be responsible for keeping clean a section of a highway in our state.

So what’s the point?

Why not formalize what you’re currently doing? Make it a part of your corporate policy and get employees involved to help identify other areas where you can turn green.  Collectively, you’re making a great statement for your company, and in the process you’re giving yourself as CEO, and your employees, something to be proud about.

Energy

Nobody likes audits, and I’m probably at the top of that list. Energy audits, once popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s, are still available.

The costs are nominal, but the recommendations can be significant in terms of cost savings. We saw one at a California facility and were amazed at what they found. If you haven’t had one, try it. You might like it!

The green wave

Whether we like it or not, this IS a current reality. Younger people, in particular, want it, believe in it, and are willing to make it happen, in and outside of the workplace. From a business perspective, getting on this wave is simply good business.

As Priznar stresses, future customers and future employees will make personal choices based upon their perceptions of “green friendliness.” A smart company won’t push this under the rug. Multinational firms have no choice by mandate. We, as smaller businesses, do. If we haven’t caught onto the wave yet, then find the right surfboard and make it happen.

Core business goals

Now here’s a novel thought. How about appointing a chief greening officer for your company? No, not a payroll add-on, but someone who has the passion to take it on as a challenge. 

Rewards can come later. As CEOs, our responsibilities include providing the culture that says, basically, “we will be green.” Then we need implementation help. Hence, the chief greening officer.

Competition

I remember like it was yesterday when everyone jumped on the ISO bandwagon.  Customers, suppliers and other stakeholders demanded it. Today, you can see few competitive companies that are not ISO qualified and that don’t have “total quality” as a part of their culture, including lean manufacturing processes.

Let’s face it. American businesses are smart, much smarter for the most part than their global competitors. Greening is another competitive onslaught that we will overcome.  It’s important to understand that, just like diversity, greening is here to stay.

Next month, I want to discuss the subject of a possible or imminent “double-dip” recession, and how to respond to it. I’m very interested in your input on this subject. If you have an opinion, please call Michele at the TEC office at (262) 831-2240.

Until then, how beautiful our state looks now in its splendid green!

POLL: Should a CEO be able to pick his/her successor?

Bloomberg Businessweek has published an interesting poll topic about the outgoing CEO choosing the best suited CEO to take his/her place. Take the poll to let us know your thoughts: